In from the cold

Saracens-bound lock Ian Fullarton will restart his Scotland career against the Barbarians in spite of national policy

The player who made the first breach in Matt Williams’ Fortress Scotland policy is set to become the first high-profile beneficiary of the coach’s summer tour plans. Instead of Iain Fullarton, the lock, being met with a raised drawbridge after electing to stay in England, he is expected to be the surprise inclusion in the squad named tomorrow to face the Barbarians on Saturday.

After that, as Fullarton acknowledges, it is up to him to play his way up the rankings against some formidable opposition. Whether his opportunity comes sooner or later, he is just grateful that it is imminent, believing that under Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer, the previous coaches, he was never given a fair chance to show whether or not he could match the trinity of Scott Murray, Stuart Grimes and Nathan Hines who had the position locked down as an internal battle.